Dr. Luis Manriquez, President
Health Equity Circle,  Spokane Alliance
          

Luis Manriquez is Director of Health Equity Circle and an Assistant Clinical Professor at the WSU Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine and University of Washington College of Medicine.

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As a medical student, Luis founded the Health Equity Circle to bring students together to learn about health equity and take action on campus and in the community through community organizing.  He is now the Director of Community Health Equity at the WSU Elson S Floyd College of Medicine.  He developed the health equity curriculum and a cohort of clinic-based organizers working with the IAF-Pacific to organize healthcare organizations to build power with patients and community organizations to advance health equity.

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As a clinician he co-founded Spokane Street Medicine and is currently the lead provider of the CHAS Health Street Medicine team and organizes the Cascadia Street Medicine Alliance.

 
Laure Pengelly-Drake, Vice-President
Christ the King Catholic Church Missoula, Common Good Missoula
 

Laure has taught secondary history and English; at the University of Montana she taught humanities; Irish history and study abroad; Individual and Community; and Mind, Heart, and Spine for the Honors College. She directed the external scholarship program and advised and coordinated many student programs for 14 years following work in the grants office and as associate director of Montana Campus Compact where she oversaw the VISTA, Campus Corps, Service Learning, and Raise Your Voice programs to engage students across the political spectrum in civic life. Laure has served on the advisory board for St. Patrick's Hospital and on the governing boards for Missoula Catholic schools, Habitat for Humanity (as president for 2 years), and Common Good Missoula. She is president of the Montana Catholic Conference and was the secretary/treasurer of Catholic Social Services of Montana; she has also served 12 years on parish council. 

 
Austin DePaolo, Treasurer
St. Andrew Catholic Church Portland, MACG
 

Austin DePaolo is a member of the Administrative Council of St. Andrew Catholic Church (Portland, Oregon) a parish of over 2000 members, including a community centre, emergency services, food bank and dental care. Austin is the Secretary-Treasurer of Teamsters Local Union 223, represents over 2300 workers in Emergency Medical Services, public sector, law enforcement, and private industries across Oregon. 

 

Pat Christiansen - Board Member
St. Andrew Lutheran Church, Beaverton, MACG
 

Pat Christiansen is a lay leader at St Andrew’s Lutheran Church Beaverton, a Lutheran parish with 300+ members and 30 lay ministries. Pat leads training in community organizing with MACG. Pat has over 30+ years in Christian and Catholic education.

Rosalinda Aguirre - Board Member
Friends of Sound Alliance, Sound Alliance, Member
 

Is a founding member of Friends of Sound Alliance, Rosalinda Aguirre has 40+ years of administration and leadership experience in civic organizations including Catholic Parishes,  the Aerospace Machinists District 751, OPEIU Local 8 and American Federation of Teachers.

Mary Lou Johnson - Board Member
Inland Northwest UU Community,  Spokane Alliance
 

Mary Lou Johnson is a member of the Inland Northwest UU Community. Formerly Mary Lou was an Attorney in U.S. District Court, 1993 to 2011; clerk in Court of Appeals, 1992 to 1993; community health nurse and educator, 1971 to 1989; taught at Intercollegiate Centre for Nursing Education and as a family nurse practitioner. Mary Lou has been an office bearer on the Board of the Spokane Alliance Board (501c4) and Spokane Alliance United (501c3) for over 20 years. Mary Lou has been a member of the Spokane League of Women Voters for 45 years

Rev Jo-Anne Kobylka - Board Member (Ex-officio - CAN)
Ottewell United Church, Edmonton, Alberta, Vice-Chair Greater Edmonton Alliance
 

Jo-Anne has been a Congregational Minister for over 35 years. Jo-Anne has a Master of Business Administration in Human Resources Management and Services from the University of Leicester and Bachelor of Sports Administration from the University of Alberta. Jo-Anne was director of the Edmonton CGIT Society of Edmonton, run a small business and is the current chair of the Greater Edmonton Alliance (GEA). Jo-Anne is a member of the IAF Canada, a registered charity with the purpose of supporting community organizing across Canada.
 

Sarah Bjorknas - Board Member (Ex-officio - CAN)
CUPE Metro, Metro Vancouver Alliance

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Sarah is Vice President of Metro Vancouver Alliance (MVA) and Co-chair of the MVA Strategy Team and President of Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Metro Vancouver District Council representing thousands of Union members. Following 30+ years of work and administration in public libraries, Sarah works as the Treasurer of CUPE Local 23, Burnaby Civic Employees Union. Sarah is a skilled facilitator of workshops and training in church, union and workplace settings.

Annie Newman - Board Member (Ex-officio- Aotearoa-NZ)
Assistant National Secretary, E tū, Chair Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga Trust, Tāmaki Makaurau- Auckland
 

E tū is the largest private sector union in Aotearoa, representing about 50,000 workers from most sectors of the economy, including the care and creative sectors,  energy, property services, media, aviation, manufacturing and mining. Annie is on the union’s National Executive; on the Principal Partner Council of the Living Wage Movement, a broad-based alliance formed to lift workers and their families out of poverty; and chair of Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga Trust, which has overseen the formation of a new city-based community alliance for Auckland, called Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga Tāmaki Makaurau.

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Rev Alec Toleafoa - Board Member (Ex-officio- Aotearoa-NZ)
Polynesian Panthers Legacy Trust, Te Ohu Whakawhanaunga Trust, Tāmaki Makaurau- Auckland, Ex-officio member

 

Having completed training at Knox Theological College University of Otago, Rev Alec Toleafoa was ordained in 1986 to ministry in the Presbyterian Church of Aotearoa New Zealand. During the course of this ministry, he has been involved in the care of people in urban street communities, youth and adult custodial and residential settings, developing youth leadership and personal development skills learning. Rev Alec is currently involved with the Trust’s education programme in School’s teaching Pacific People’s history in Aotearoa New Zealand, now part of the New Zealand history curriculum in schools.

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Chris Gambian - Board Member (Ex-officio - AUS)
CEO for Australians for Mental Health, Chair NSW Community Alliance
 

Formerly Chris was the Chief Executive of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW where he earned a reputation as an effective public communicator and skilled political lobbyist across all sides of NSW parliament.

Previously he was National Director of Organising & Development at the Finance Sector Union of Australia, as well as running a small business. Chris has served on the boards of Powerhouse Youth Theatre, Catalyst, Unions NSW, Sydney Community Forum, Bankstown Youth Development Service and the Multicultural Leadership Initiative. Chris was raised Catholic and members of his family active participants and leaders in the Catholic church and education system.

Dr. Rosemary Hancock - Board Member (Ex-officio member - AUS)
Notre Dame University, National Tertiary Education Union NSW Branch, Sydney Alliance
 

Rosemary (Rosie) Hancock is a sociologist, working at the University of Notre Dame Australia. Rosemary has a MA in Islamic Studies, and in 2011 enrolled in a PhD at the University of Sydney to research Islamic environmental activism.

Rosie is known nationally and internationally for her sociological work on religion and local politics. Rosie is a Researcher at the Sydney Policy Lab at the University of Sydney. Rosie is an active member of her Union, the National Tertiary Education Union NSW. Rosie is a proud member of the LGBTIQ community.